178th New York State Legislature

The 178th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 8, 1969, to April 20, 1970, during the eleventh and twelfth years of Nelson Rockefeller's governorship, in Albany.

178th New York State Legislature
← 177th 179th →
New York State Capitol (2009)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	January 1, 1969 – December 31, 1970
Senate
Members	57
President	Lt. Gov. Malcolm Wilson (R)
Temporary President	Earl W. Brydges (R)
Party control	Republican (33–24)
Assembly
Members	150
Speaker	Perry B. Duryea, Jr. (R)
Party control	Republican 1969: (76–72–2) 1970: (77–71–2)
Sessions
1st January 8 – May 2, 1969 2nd January 7 – April 20, 1970

Background

Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1938, and the U.S. Supreme Court decision to follow the One man, one vote rule, re-apportioned in 1966 by order of the New York Court of Appeals, 57 Senators and 150 assemblymen were elected in single-seat districts for two-year terms. Senate and Assembly districts consisted of approximately the same number of inhabitants, the area being apportioned without restrictions regarding county boundaries.

At this time there were two major political parties: the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. The Conservative Party, the Liberal Party, the Peace and Freedom Party, the Socialist Labor Party and the Socialist Workers Party also nominated tickets.

Elections

The New York state election, 1968, was held on November 5. The only two statewide elective offices up for election were a seat on the New York Court of Appeals and a U.S. Senator from New York. The incumbent office-holders were re-elected: Judge Adrian P. Burke, a Democrat with Republican, Liberal and Conservative endorsement; and U.S. Senator Jacob K. Javits, a Republican with Liberal endorsement. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for U.S. Senator, was: Republicans/Liberals 3,270,000; Democrats 2,151,000; Conservatives 1,139,000; Peace and Freedom 9,000; Socialist Labor 8,000; and Socialist Workers 5,000.

Two of the four women members of the previous legislature—Assemblywomen Constance E. Cook (Rep.), a lawyer of Ithaca; and Gail Hellenbrand (Dem.), of Brooklyn—were re-elected. Rosemary R. Gunning (Cons.), a lawyer of Ridgewood, Queens; and Mary Anne Krupsak (Dem.), a lawyer of Amsterdam, were also elected to the Assembly.

The New York state election, 1969, was held on November 4. The only statewide elective office up for election was a seat on the New York Court of Appeals. Two vacancies in the Assembly were filled.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the first regular session (the 192nd) at the State Capitol in Albany on January 8, 1969;^[1] and recessed on March 30.^[2] The Legislature met again on April 15;^[3] and adjourned sine die on May 2.^[4]

Perry B. Duryea, Jr. (Rep.) was elected Speaker.

Earl W. Brydges (Rep.) was re-elected Temporary President of the State Senate.

On March 28, the Legislature increased the state sales tax by 1 percentage point. Democrats Charles F. Stockmeister and Albert J. Hausbeck voted with the Republicans^[5] and subsequently were ostracised by their party.^[6] Stockmeister was appointed by Gov. Rockefeller to the Civil Service Commission on July 3, 1969. Hausbeck changed parties in 1970, and was re-elected to the Assembly on the Republican and Conservative tickets in November 1970.

On December 3, 1969, the Court of Appeals did not allow a re-apportionment of the legislative districts which the Republican majorities in both Houses intended to enact in time to be used for the elections in November 1970.^[7]

The Legislature met for the second regular session (the 193rd) at the State Capitol in Albany on January 7, 1970;^[8] and adjourned sine die on April 20.^[9]

On April 9, 1970, the Assembly passed a bill allowing abortion without restrictions until 24 weeks of pregnancy.^[10] The Senate passed the bill on April 10, and Gov. Rockefeller signed it on April 11, thus becoming the law.

State Senate

Senators

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Jess J. Present changed from the Assembly to the Senate at the beginning of the session.

Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

District	Senator	Party	Notes
1st	Leon E. Giuffreda*	Republican
2nd	Bernard C. Smith*	Republican
3rd	Ralph J. Marino	Republican
4th	Edward J. Speno*	Republican
5th	John D. Caemmerer*	Republican
6th	John R. Dunne*	Republican
7th	Norman F. Lent*	Republican	on November 3, 1970, elected to the 92nd U.S. Congress
8th	Murray Schwartz*	Democrat
9th	Jack E. Bronston*	Democrat
10th	Seymour R. Thaler*	Democrat
11th	John J. Santucci*	Democrat
12th	Martin J. Knorr	Republican
13th	Nicholas Ferraro*	Democrat
14th	Edward S. Lentol*	Democrat
15th	A. Frederick Meyerson	Democrat
16th	William Rosenblatt*	Democrat
17th	Jeremiah B. Bloom*	Democrat
18th	Waldaba Stewart	Democrat
19th	Samuel L. Greenberg*	Democrat
20th	Albert B. Lewis*	Democrat
21st	William T. Conklin*	Republican
22nd	William J. Ferrall*	Democrat	died on December 13, 1970
23rd	John J. Marchi*	Republican
24th	Paul P. E. Bookson*	Democrat
25th	Manfred Ohrenstein*	Democrat
26th	Roy M. Goodman	Republican
27th	Basil A. Paterson*	Democrat
28th	Joseph Zaretzki*	Democrat	Minority Leader
29th	Robert García*	Democrat
30th	Harrison J. Goldin*	Democrat
31st	Joseph L. Galiber	Democrat
32nd	Abraham Bernstein*	Democrat
33rd	John D. Calandra*	Republican
34th	John E. Flynn*	Republican
35th	Anthony B. Gioffre*	Republican
36th	Bernard G. Gordon*	Republican
37th	D. Clinton Dominick III*	Republican
38th	Jay P. Rolison, Jr.*	Republican
39th	Douglas Hudson*	Republican
40th	Walter B. Langley	Republican
41st	Dalwin J. Niles*	Republican
42nd	Ronald B. Stafford*	Republican
43rd	Hugh Douglas Barclay*	Republican
44th	James H. Donovan*	Republican
45th	John H. Hughes*	Republican	Chairman of Judiciary
46th	Tarky Lombardi, Jr.*	Republican
47th	Warren M. Anderson*	Republican	Chairman of Finance
48th	William T. Smith*	Republican
49th	Theodore D. Day*	Republican
50th	Thomas Laverne*	Republican
51st	James E. Powers*	Democrat
52nd	Earl W. Brydges*	Republican	re-elected Temporary President
53rd	William E. Adams*	Republican	on December 29, 1970, appointed Counsel to the NYS Board of Standards and Appeals
54th	Thomas F. McGowan*	Republican
55th	Frank J. Glinski*	Democrat
56th	James D. Griffin*	Democrat
57th	Jess J. Present*	Republican

Employees

• Secretary: Albert J. Abrams

State Assembly

Assembly members

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature.

Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

District	Assembly member	Party	Notes
1st	Perry B. Duryea, Jr.*	Republican	elected Speaker
2nd	Peter J. Costigan*	Republican
3rd	Charles A. Jerabek	Cons./Rep.
4th	Prescott B. Huntington*	Republican
5th	William L. Burns*	Republican
6th	John G. McCarthy*	Republican
7th	Joseph M. Reilly*	Republican
8th	Martin Ginsberg*	Republican
9th	Francis P. McCloskey*	Republican
10th	Milton Jonas*	Republican
11th	Stanley Harwood*	Democrat
12th	Joseph M. Margiotta*	Republican
13th	John S. Thorp Jr.*	Democrat
14th	Arthur J. Kremer*	Democrat
15th	Eli Wager*	Democrat
16th	George J. Farrell, Jr.*	Republican
17th	John E. Kingston*	Republican	Majority Leader
18th	Vincent R. Balletta Jr.*	Republican
19th	Herbert A. Posner*	Democrat
20th	Joseph J. Kunzeman*	Republican
21st	Martin Rodell*	Democrat
22nd	John T. Gallagher*	Republican
23rd	Leonard P. Stavisky*	Democrat
24th	Arthur J. Cooperman	Democrat
25th	Moses M. Weinstein*	Democrat	on November 4, 1969, elected to the New York Supreme Court
	Emanuel R. Gold	Democrat	on February 17, 1970, elected to fill vacancy^[11]
26th	Guy R. Brewer	Democrat
27th	Herbert J. Miller*	Democrat
28th	Alfred D. Lerner*	Republican
29th	Frederick D. Schmidt*	Democrat
30th	John T. Flack	Republican
31st	Joseph F. Lisa	Democrat
32nd	Jules G. Sabbatino*	Democrat
33rd	Joseph S. Calabretta*	Democrat
34th	Rosemary R. Gunning	Cons./Rep.
35th	Chester J. Straub*	Democrat
36th	Rudolph F. DiBlasi*	Democrat	resigned to run for the New York City Council
	Peter G. Mirto	Democrat	on November 4, 1969, elected to fill vacancy^[12]
37th	Samuel D. Wright*	Democrat
38th	Vito P. Battista	Republican
39th	Stanley Fink	Democrat
40th	Alfred A. Lama*	Democrat
41st	Stanley Steingut*	Democrat	Minority Leader
42nd	Lawrence P. Murphy*	Democrat
43rd	George A. Cincotta*	Democrat
44th	Sidney A. Lichtman	Democrat
45th	Stephen J. Solarz	Democrat
46th	Leonard M. Simon*	Democrat
47th	Salvatore J. Grieco*	Democrat
48th	Leonard Silverman	Democrat
49th	Dominick L. DiCarlo*	Republican
50th	Robert F. Kelly*	Republican
51st	Vincent A. Riccio	Republican
52nd	Joseph J. Dowd*	Democrat
53rd	William J. Giordano*	Democrat
54th	Gail Hellenbrand*	Democrat
55th	Thomas R. Fortune	Democrat
56th	Bertram L. Baker*	Democrat
57th	Harvey L. Strelzin	Democrat
58th	Lucio F. Russo*	Republican
59th	Edward J. Amann Jr.*	Republican
60th	Louis DeSalvio*	Democrat
61st	Anthony G. DiFalco	Democrat
62nd	Andrew J. Stein	Democrat
63rd	William F. Passannante*	Democrat
64th	Peter A. A. Berle	Democrat
65th	Jerome Kretchmer*	Democrat
66th	Stephen C. Hansen	Republican
67th	Albert H. Blumenthal*	Democrat
68th	Frank G. Rossetti*	Democrat
69th	Franz S. Leichter	Democrat
70th	Hulan E. Jack*	Democrat
71st	Stephen S. Gottlieb	Democrat
72nd	Charles B. Rangel*	Democrat	on November 3, 1970, elected to the 92nd U.S. Congress
73rd	John J. Walsh*	Democrat
74th	Mark T. Southall*	Democrat
75th	Harry Kraf*	Democrat
76th	Seymour Posner*	Democrat
77th	Armando Montano	Democrat
78th	Edward A. Stevenson, Sr.*	Democrat
79th	Manuel Ramos*	Democrat
80th	Ferdinand J. Mondello*	Democrat
81st	Robert Abrams*	Democrat	on November 4, 1969, elected Borough President of the Bronx
	Alan Hochberg	Democrat	on February 17, 1970, elected to fill vacancy^[11]
82nd	Alexander Chananau*	Democrat
83rd	Burton Hecht*	Democrat
84th	Benjamin Altman*	Democrat	on January 6, 1970, appointed as NYC Commissioner of Rent and Housing Maintenance^[13]
	G. Oliver Koppell	Ind. Dem.	on March 3, 1970, elected to fill vacancy^[14]
85th	Anthony J. Mercorella*	Democrat
86th	Anthony J. Stella	Democrat
87th	Thomas J. McInerney*	Democrat
88th	George E. Van Cott*	Republican
89th	Alvin M. Suchin*	Republican
90th	Gordon W. Burrows*	Republican
91st	Joseph R. Pisani*	Republican
92nd	Richard A. Cerosky*	Republican
93rd	Peter R. Biondo*	Republican
94th	Eugene Levy	Republican
95th	Benjamin A. Gilman*	Republican
96th	Daniel Becker	Republican
97th	Willis H. Stephens*	Republican	Chairman of Ways and Means
98th	Emeel S. Betros	Republican
99th	H. Clark Bell	Republican
100th	Clarence D. Lane*	Republican
101st	Neil W. Kelleher*	Republican
102nd	Raymond C. Skuse	Republican
103rd	Fred G. Field, Jr.	Republican
104th	Mary Anne Krupsak	Democrat
105th	Clark C. Wemple*	Republican
106th	Fred W. Droms, Jr.*	Republican
107th	Lawrence E. Corbett Jr.*	Republican
108th	Andrew W. Ryan, Jr.	Republican
109th	Glenn H. Harris*	Republican
110th	Edward J. Keenan*	Republican
111th	Donald L. Taylor*	Republican
112th	Donald J. Mitchell*	Republican
113th	Edwyn E. Mason*	Republican
114th	Richard A. Brown*	Republican
115th	William R. Sears*	Republican
116th	John T. Buckley*	Republican
117th	Edward F. Crawford*	Republican	Chairman of Judiciary
118th	Leonard F. Bersani	Republican
119th	Kenneth G. Bartlett*	Republican
120th	Mortimer P. Gallivan*	Democrat
121st	John H. Terry*	Republican	on November 3, 1970, elected to the 92nd U.S. Congress
122nd	George M. Michaels	Democrat
123rd	Kenneth S. Leasure*	Republican
124th	Francis J. Boland, Jr.*	Republican
125th	Constance E. Cook*	Republican
126th	L. Richard Marshall*	Republican
127th	Charles D. Henderson*	Republican
128th	Frederick L. Warder*	Republican
129th	Joseph C. Finley*	Republican
130th	Donald C. Shoemaker*	Republican
131st	Raymond J. Lill*	Democrat
132nd	S. William Rosenberg*	Republican
133rd	Frank A. Carroll*	Republican
134th	Charles F. Stockmeister*	Democrat	on July 3, 1969, appointed to the New York State Civil Service Commission^[15]
	William M. Steinfeldt	Republican	on November 4, 1969, elected to fill vacancy^[12]
135th	Don W. Cook*	Republican
136th	James L. Emery*	Republican
137th	V. Sumner Carroll*	Republican
138th	Gregory J. Pope*	Democrat
139th	Lloyd J. Long*	Republican
140th	James T. McFarland*	Republican
141st	Chester R. Hardt*	Republican
142nd	Stephen R. Greco*	Democrat
143rd	Arthur O. Eve*	Democrat
144th	Albert J. Hausbeck*	Democrat
145th	John B. Lis*	Democrat
146th	Francis J. Griffin*	Democrat
147th	Ronald H. Tills	Republican
148th	Frank Walkley*	Republican
149th	Lloyd A. Russell*	Republican
150th	John W. Beckman	Republican

Employees

• Clerk: Donald A. Campbell

Notes

1. Governor Proposes Curb on Spending; 3% Sales Tax; Trim of 5% is Goal in The New York Times on January 9, 1969 (subscription required)
2. Two-Week Recess Starts in Albany in The New York Times on March 31, 1969 (subscription required)
3. Legislature Reconvenes Today, Hoping to Adjourn by May 1 in The New York Times on April 15, 1969 (subscription required)
4. Legislature Ends; Pay Raises Passed in The New York Times on May 3, 1969 (subscription required)
5. State Sales Tax Increased 1 Cent by G.O.P. in Albany in The New York Times on March 29, 1969 (subscription required)
6. Steingut Bids Assembly Demote 2 Democrats for Sales Tax Vote in The New York Times on April 2, 1969 (subscription required)
7. Court Bars G.O.P. From Redistricting Legislature in '70 in The New York Times on December 4, 1969 (subscription required)
8. Rockefeller Offers Plan to Revamp State Agencies to Meet Problems of 70's in The New York Times on January 8, 1970 (subscription required)
9. Ballot Bill Stirs Furor as Session Closes in Albany in The New York Times on April 21, 1970 (subscription required)
10. Abortion Reform is Voted by the Assembly, 76 to 73 in The New York Times on April 10, 1970 (subscription required)
11. Democrats Win Elections in Bronx and Queens in The New York Times on February 18, 1970 (subscription required)
12. Election results in The Daily Messenger, of Canandaigua, on November 5, 1969
13. New Housing Chief Would Rebuild Slums to Draw Middle Class in The New York Times on January 7, 1970 (subscription required)
14. Koppell ran as an Independent, and defeated the regular Democratic candidate Sidney Rosen; see Koppell Wins Assembly Seat in a Special Election in Bronx in The New York Times on March 4, 1970 (subscription required)
15. Rebel Democrat Gets State Post in The New York Times on July 4, 1969 (subscription required)

Sources

• Assembly winners and Senate leaders in The Geneva Times, of Geneva, on November 6, 1968